“Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer” by Sunetra Choudhury and Sunil Gupta

This book is an eye-opener. It is about the personal account of problem faced by the jailer,
who handled 14 black warrant in his 35-year career as jailer in Tihar. It is the story of Mr.
Sunil Gupta, a frail-looking oddity at Tihar Jail, and how he fights many battles to finish a
blameless service. Starting from him leaving a secure but transferable job, to landing a job at
Tihar, journalist Sunetra Chaudhary has conveyed the story dispassionately. This book breaks
the myth of Tihar being a secure jail. This book also talks about the custody deaths rates
which are significantly increasing year by year with less or no accountability, leading to
violation of human rights. Black Warrant reveals how the corruption is very much prevalent
inside the prison. It also highlights how gundas rule the roost at Tihar, and how money can
get you anything. It also delves into why our prison system hasn’t exactly become a
reformative system that it was expected to be, and has, instead, turned out to be a place from
where small-time offenders come out to be hardened criminals, often the result of torturous,
inhuman treatment at the hands of corrupt prison staff, who expect to be paid for everything,
even if it is to be granted to the inmate as a matter of routine.
 
The book is an honest revelation of what happens in a prison, which many have no clue what
goes behind the bars. The book shares some controversial confessions of procedural lapses
and corruption leading to a travesty of justice. There are few honest and truthful facts
about rich, famous and most controversial prisoners of India and their last days which
will disclose as one reads the book . The book narrates the story of Charles
Sobhraj and how he secured Sunil Gupta’s job, the most infamous rapists-killers
Ranga-Billa, the Nirbhaya case rapist Ram Singh’s suicide, the security men who gunned
down Indira Gandhi, the prime minister they were charged with securing, Maqbool Butt,
founder of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Jessica Lal murderer Manu Sharma’s
political connection, Afzal Guru’s last days in prison, and Subrata Sahara’s rich &
luxurious life which can be seen by his own conference room with his lackeys and internet
access. It presents a very relatable and perhaps understanding picture of convicts, from the
eyes of a jailer.

Highlighting the human element of these executions talked by Sunil Gupta. From the judges
who sign the warrant to the jail officials who try to ignore the narrative of a criminal outside
the walls of Tihar, everyone ends up feeling terrible during an execution. However, Gupta
admits to his perverse excitement at witnessing an execution as well. One can say that Black
Warrant has not minced any words. He also talks about that how everyone is conditioned to
hate the prisoners.
In the case of Manu Sharma (Jessica Lal murder case) everyone knew that he commits the
murder but due to his father’s strong holding in politics he was ready to upside down
everything but was unsuccessful as court already declared him culprit. Even after knowing
about Manu, Sunil Gupta thinks he was a good guy. He sees prisoners as a normal people and
not as a person for which they are serving sentence. This can also be seen as Manu is the
reason behind the success of TJs brand of Tihar. He also tells Gupta that he didn’t want to
commit that murder it was all because of being in wrong company.
Sunil Gupta's accounts on Afzal Guru executions are fantastic and he was very
compassionate with him. He portrayed that how Afzal was a normal person who used to read
books of different faiths (Gita, Quran and Vedas) and that he had no fear in his voice saying
that all he did was to fight the corrupt politicians only. He not only displays the humane side
of the terrorists, but also manages to jolt the reader's conscience by displaying that a sinner
can be separated from his sins because of the inherent defect that exists in society.
Years of experience in this occupation made Sunil Gupta see them from a different
perspective of prisoners, and he could see beyond their crime. Jailer do not hate the person
but the crime they commit and their job was to treat them as humanely as possible so they
had a chance of reforming. His belief that reforms and rehabilitation are the primary goals of
incarceration is the underlying theme of the book.
In this book Sunil Gupta tried very hard to not give his opinion on controversial matters and
had been honest as much as possible. He tried to put the truth while not exposing his
colleagues to the readers. He very well narrated the stories of convicts and their condition and
he also showed how jailers are also tied to this system which has become a vicious trap for
everyone.

In conclusion, "Black Warrant" is a must-read for anyone willing to comprehend how Tihar
jail is a microcosm of the society we all live in. It is the most intimate and raw account of
India’s judicial and criminal justice system. It is no different from the outside world and
every paragraph is a hair-raiser as it confirms our suspicions about the perverted operations in
Tihar. I do sincerely hope that we all collectively heed Gupta's warnings and try to
incorporate his solutions in the proper restitution of prisoner and also hopes that the Judges of
higher court read, and perhaps punish those who have created the rot that Tihar is. Also, the
book also makes the reader feel a bit of the pain and suffering of those on death row and
wonder if the hangings could have been avoided. The book nearly has 175 pages and cost is
about Rs. 350 so it is affordable, the content is written so smoothly that the readers can even
visualize the incidents happening in the book and they can also emotionally connect to the
stories.